Xiao Fan regretted in his heart that he had not discovered the secret about the rainwater earlier. If he had left earlier, he would have already reached the riverbank by now.
Now he had no way to turn back. Even if he turned around now, it would be impossible to return to the hospital. He could only continue forward and try to reach the riverbank faster.
The Lynx crawled forward another five hundred meters with difficulty before the rain finally stopped.
The riverbank was only five hundred meters away now, but the number of zombies on the road suddenly increased!
What's more, two small cars had flipped over at the intersection ahead, completely blocking the way to the riverbank.
"We must move those two cars aside and charge through!"
There was no time to hesitate. The Lynx accelerated and rushed straight toward the overturned cars.
The rain had stopped and the sky cleared up. The roaring engine soon attracted a large group of zombies.
Zombies could be seen stumbling through the traffic jam one after another, slowly making their way over. At first glance there were at least several hundred, and this was just a small area.
"Brace yourselves, Commander-In-Chief!"
Xu Qiang shouted, and the Lynx rammed into one of the small cars.
The car was pushed to the side by the impact, leaving a small gap, but there was still another car behind blocking the way. Simply ramming it with the Lynx was not enough to clear the path.
"Everyone come with me to move the cars!"
The seven soldiers all jumped out of the vehicle, trying to push the small cars out of the way.
It wasn't easy to push the overturned cars. No matter how hard the soldiers tried, progress was still slow.
Meanwhile, large groups of zombies were coming from behind and the sides. If they got too close, everyone would likely meet their end here.
Xu Qiang took a glance and knew that the few dozen bullets in his gun were far from enough to take down so many zombies.
He immediately said to Xiao Fan, "Commander-In-Chief, can you drive?"
"Yes, I can." Xiao Fan did know how to drive a car.
"Good. Then you drive, I'm going to use the roof-mounted machine gun to deal with the zombies."
The two quickly switched seats. Xiao Fan fiddled with the controls and gripped the steering wheel, ready to drive off.
Xu Qiang moved to the passenger seat, where there was a 12.7mm machine gun - a vehicle-mounted weapon.
The machine gun came with 500 rounds and hadn't been used yet.
"Back up a bit, Commander-In-Chief!"
Xiao Fan reversed the Lynx to open up some distance. The zombies had already crossed the traffic jam, and more than a dozen were right upon them.
There was no need to elaborate at this distance. Xu Qiang grabbed the machine gun and opened fire!
Ratatat--ratatat--ratatatata!!!
Tongues of flame spewed from the machine gun as shell casings clattered out. The immense recoil could be felt even by Xiao Fan.
This was his first time witnessing a machine gun firing at close range. The impact was truly unmatched. Although the deafening roar made his eardrums throb, his heart surged with hot blood.
The machine gun's power was also apparent. At this range it was impossible to ensure every shot struck a zombie's head, but even hits to the body showed astounding lethality.
Bullets that struck the zombies left huge bloody holes!
Any hits to the arms or legs immediately blew them apart in a bloody mess!
In an instant, right in front of the Lynx, blood and flesh flew everywhere as zombies were mowed down like crops, falling over like knocked-down bowling pins.
Of course, these tenacious creatures would still crawl towards Xiao Fan and the others as long as their heads remained intact.
Xiao Fan's task was to constantly maneuver the vehicle within the narrow space to maintain distance from the zombies, providing Xu Qiang ample room to shoot.
He also had to avoid getting too close to Wang Zhan and the others so the gunfire wouldn't attract all the zombies to them. Xiao Fan and Xu Qiang had to buy time for Wang Zhan's group to safely push the cars aside.
The task was fairly easy. Xiao Fan even had time to observe the vehicle.
With each roar of the machine gun, more zombies fell. Xiao Fan could see an experience bar on the Lynx slowly filling up.
As a system vehicle, the Lynx was also a Red Alert unit capable of leveling up.
Just like the Overlord Tank or the Prism Tank in the game, it would become extraordinarily powerful after reaching 3 stars.
Xiao Fan didn't know what abilities the Lynx would gain by leveling up, but at the current pace, it was likely to happen before the 500 rounds were spent.
As the gunfire continued, more and more zombies converged on their location.
In the traffic behind them, more and more zombies emerged from the vehicles, pouring out endlessly in a despairing number.
Xiao Fan roughly estimated at least 2,000 zombies in the vicinity.
It would be completely impossible for them to deal with so many.
20 meters ahead of Xiao Fan's group, Wang Zhan and the others were halfway done clearing the cars. They just needed three more minutes to open up a path.
So Xiao Fan and Xu Qiang had to hold out for three more minutes no matter what!
Xiao Fan kept flooring the accelerator and braking, downshifting, turning the wheel, constantly maneuvering to maintain distance from the zombies.
The machine gun never stopped its roar, flesh and blood flying everywhere around them. Just days ago Xiao Fan still felt nauseous seeing such scenes, but now he was already desensitized.
There was no telling how many zombies had been killed. The Lynx's experience bar was nearly full, and would hit level 1 once maxed out.
But right at that moment, the gunfire suddenly ceased!
The 500 rounds supplied with the machine gun had been completely expended!
Xu Qiang paid no heed to anything else. He pulled out his assault rifle and started picking off targets from atop the vehicle, trying to buy just a bit more time.
Without the machine gun's heavy fire suppression, the zombies howled and charged forth. Some even managed to leap onto the front of the vehicle.
Through the windshield, Xiao Fan saw blackened claws grasp the glass. He clearly made out the bloody jaws of the zombie, even glimpsing flesh stuck between its teeth!
He slammed the accelerator and then the brakes, shaking the climbed-on zombie off, but more would surely follow after this precedent.
Although Xu Qiang kept shooting, zombies he killed no longer contributed to the Lynx's kill count.
Seeing this, Xiao Fan grew anxious.
His gaze swept over the zombies crawling on the ground with limbs shot off by the machine gun. A thought came to him.
"Brace yourself, Xu Qiang!"
Xiao Fan suddenly floored the accelerator. The Lynx roared forward!
Crunch crunch crunch!
The Lynx's eight tires mercilessly crushed the bodies of grounded zombies as it sped by, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.